Renders are computer-generated images or videos that show what a project will look like when executed. It is a widely used tool to visualize the future of a work that is still only a sketch. But the ‘renders’ do not always reflect reality faithfully, but are sometimes exercises in fantasy that end up disappointing when compared to the final result. As the saying goes, the ‘render’ holds everything.
The ‘renders’ of Barcelona City Council
The Barcelona City Council is one of those that most uses ‘renders’ to present its urban projects. In the previous term, the municipal government at the time used this resource to show its great works, but many of them ended up being very different from what had been announced. This same medium made a comparison between the ‘renders’ and the reality of the nativity scene of Barcelona City Council in 2021, and highlighted the discrepancies.
Another example is that of the new pavement on the Rambla, which is in the process of being remodeled. The ‘renders’ released by Barcelona City Council showed a marked contrast between the different types of pavement, which gave a renewed and dynamic look to the city’s most emblematic promenade. But when citizens were able to walk through the first phase of the redevelopment, they saw that the contrast was much more subdued and muted, and that the new pavement had no personality of its own. Some have even begun to miss the wave-shaped pavement that will gradually disappear. The difference was so great that in a working meeting with the media, municipal officials recalled that what prevails in new projects are the tender documents that specify in detail the materials used and not the ‘renders’ ‘ that advertise them.
A change of course in the use of ‘renders’
In this context, the municipal government led by Mayor Collboni has decided to be more cautious when it comes to using ‘renders’, a turn that this Monday was embodied in the presentation of the redevelopment projects for the Plaça dels angels The chief architect of the Barcelona City Council, Maria Buhigas, during the presentation of the projects, stated that it is necessary to be “alert” with the ‘renders’ and reminded that the images that have been made known “are studies preliminaries that do not represent a definitive proposal, but which allow to illustrate what is to be explained” regarding the future Plaça dels Àngels. This caution has been transferred to the press kit given to the media where, as an important innovation, the ‘renders’ have been accompanied by the note ‘preliminary studies do not represent a definitive proposal’. So, a change of direction to stop a way of promoting the city’s projects after the failures produced in the previous mandate.